Community Associations Institute needs your help opposing HB 147: Revise laws related to covenants to provide definition of enforcement action. If passed, HB 147 will invalidate a community association’s right to enforce a covenant if enforcement action hasn’t been used during the past two years, forcing them to expire and be adopted all over again. This bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee, having passed through the House already, and will be heard on April 2nd at 8am, and again on April 9th at 8am. 

Community associations depend on having the authority to enforce covenants developed and agreed to by homeowners in order to maintain property values and a certain standard of living. The state legislature is seeking to pass a law that states that covenant enforcement depends on whether or not it was enforced within the last two years. Covenant enforcement during a certain time period shouldn’t determine if a covenant can be enforced in the future- most community associations hope that neighbors are respectful of each other and their community rules.  

Arbitrary limits on enforcement only help the small number of homeowners who refuse to follow the rules that everyone else agreed to. What’s more, the process for reinstituting covenants forced to expire by HB 147 would create a financial and administrative burden on volunteer association governing boards, as governing documents would need to be amended and refiled with the assistance of legal counsel. These costs could be passed on to homeowners who do not have anything to do with the dispute, as associations would need to implement special assessments to cover any funding gaps caused by unbudgeted legal fees.  

Legislation such as HB 147 often seeks to solve the perceived failings in a few community associations yet is unilaterally applied to every community association in the state.  

Please, tell the Senate Judiciary Committee to OPPOSE this bill, and preserve your association’s governing authority! 

Speak Directly to the Senate Judiciary Committee! We also encourage you to sign up  to testify on April 2nd at 8am and April 9th at 8am, by visiting the Committee’s homepage and clicking on “Legislative Public Participation”. From there, follow the on-screen instructions to create an account, and click on “Remote Testimony”. Search for HB 174  and follow the on-screen instructions to register to speak. Registration is accepted until 2 hours before the hearing (6am on April 2nd, 6am on April 9th).